Page 21 of Blackmail of a Billionaire

His hand lingered on hers for a moment before she pulled away and headed for the stairs. She sucked in a breath. Despite her best efforts, the lines had blurred even more. And she had no idea what she was going to do about that. Nor about the fact that an increasingly hostile Sierra had brought a corporate spy into their midst.

CHAPTER 7

GRANT

Grant’s mind raced in a thousand directions as Julia strode away from him. From the fallout of the party to the mysterious Christopher Metcalfe incident Julia hinted at to their canceled conversation, there were several things he had wanted to clear up and more than one topic he needed to discuss with Julia.

Especially now with the outburst from his daughter. His frustration with Sierra made his muscles tense. She needed to be set straight before she caused more trouble than she already had.

Julia disappeared up the stairs, and Grant stormed into the living room, passing through the dimly lit corridor, the shadows echoing those that loomed large in his mind.

“Finally,” Sierra groaned.

Grant knew his daughter well. This conversation required a delicate touch, but his frustrations boiled over as he recalled the expression on Julia’s face when Sierra had laid into her. “You were way out of line, Sierra.”

Sierra wrinkled her nose, offering him an incredulous glance. “Are you serious?”

Grant clenched his jaw, tightening the muscles along with his fists. “I’m more than serious.”

“You’re taking her side?”

“We are all on the same side here,” he answered.

Sierra offered him an unimpressed stare, a single, flat word escaping her lips. “Wow.”

He tugged his chin back to his chest. “Excuse me?”

“I said wow. As in, I can’t believe this.” Sierra crossed her arms, the stormy look in her eyes contrasting with the room’s comfort. “She’s supposed to make small talk at parties, gaze lovingly into your eyes, and make people think you’re an all-around upstanding guy.”

“And I think she’s done a fabulous job at managing that so far. Especially given what we’ve handed her to work with.”

Sierra clicked her tongue as she poured herself another drink. “Oh, come on. You are an extremely talented CEO, everyone knows that. We just needed to paint you as an all-around stable, family guy, not a man on the hunt for his next ex-wife.”

Grant guffawed. “Sierra, the day after our wedding, I was arrested for murder. Two days after, I had to hold a press conference in which a reporter shoved a microphone into her face and asked her how she could stand beside a murderer.”

Sierra twisted to eye him, lifting a shoulder. “So, she’s had a few…challenges. Big deal. She’s getting paid enough.” Sierra flicked her gaze to her drink before she added, “It’s not like she’s doing it for free.”

“About that…”

“What? Oh, no, you aren’t giving her more money because of the murder thing, are you?”

Grant shook his head as their contract and the rejection of his subsequent gifts flitted through his mind. “No, but please stop bringing that up. She is not hired help.”

“She is.”

Grant heaved a sigh, his frustration not dissipating. “No, Sierra, she is not. She is not paid to be arm candy. If she was, we’d already be losing this battle. Because she’s intelligent enough to put a stop to inquiries from reporters and people like Veronica Lawson, we stand a chance. We picked her for a reason, remember?”

Sierra nodded. “Yeah, because she has that innocent doe-eyed look that screams wholesome. Not because she has a brain.”

Grant scrubbed his face. “Sierra, if she’d only had an innocent doe-eyed look, I’d still be in jail for murder.”

“That’s not true. Mitchell is an excellent attorney. He would have definitely figured something out.”

“Before or after they actually killed Evie?” Grant stalked across the room to pour himself a drink.

Sierra pressed her lips together in a thin line as she accepted defeat on that front. “Fine, okay, she’s smart, too. But she doesn’t need to involve herself in every facet of our lives.”

“She is my wife.”

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